MÉRIDA SOUTH BY BIKE ON CALLE 42

Leaving Mérida and heading south by bicycle we have found the quietest route, not necessarily the fastest, taking you through an assortment of interesting neighborhoods. Even from the north of the city you can be out past the “periferico” or rim route overpass in less than an hour poking along at a leisurely pace. There are only five stop lights the entire length of calle 42, but scores of “topes”, speed bumps, which we easily glide over on our slow moving bikes.
Calle 42 may not be an interesting trip by car but by bicycle neat shopping places like this simple little sidewalk shop will conveniently fill your traveling needs.
One hour of biking will take you out of the city and two more hours to Acanceh or Tecoh. Convenient return transportation is no problem with folding bicycles from any of the cities you see on the above map. The optional (red) routes are all on quiet roads.
This is a very historical map reproduced from a British Admiralty chart dating 1840. It was used by John L. Stephens on his epic expedition of exploration when he and his partner Catherwood journeyed across Yucatán visiting the Mayan ruins and making priceless sketches of the peninsula. The classic book Stephens wrote, Incidents of Travel in Yucatan is still in print and we consider it one of our all-time favorites and a must read.
This 1840 chart was three hundred years after the Spanish conquest and just a few years before the catastrophic Caste War broke out. John L. Stephens’s route is overdrawn in blue and the bold print names represent places where they made sketches. One very significant thing to be noted from the above chart is the conspicuous lack of highways and designated roads.
Remember that this was the beginning of the industrial revolution and steam power had not yet reached Yucatán.
Another interesting thing of note is the fact that the very straight roads in use at that time were built by the ancient Maya and were still in use by the Spanish who wrecked the smooth paved surfaces with their wheeled carts.
Well, believe it or not Jane and I were amazed as we made this bike tour that our excursion took us on the exact same route as John L. Stephens took one hundred and seventy years earlier. We rode the now paved ancient Mayan sacbe roads where the neatly cut side stones are still visible after countless centuries of use.
Here in John L. Stephens own words from his epic book; Incidents of Travel in Yucatan is an excerpt describing his departure from Mérida and journey south, the exact same road that Jane and I had bicycled;
Pages 65, 66, 67, 68; subject 1842 trip to Tekoh 8 leagues from Mérida.

It was our intention to resume our exploration at Uxmal, the point where we were interrupted by the illness of Mr. Catherwood. We had received intelligence, however, of the ruins of Mayapan, an ancient city which had never been visited, about eight leagues from Mérida, and but a few leagues aside from our road, by the haciendas, to Uxmal. The account which we could obtain were meager, and it was represented as completely in ruins; but, in fulfillment of our purpose we at that time entertained going to every place of which we heard any account whatever, we determined to visit this on our way to Uxmal. It was for Mayapan therefore, that we were now setting out.
Our saddles, Bridles, holsters, and pistols, being entirely different from the mountings of horsemen in that country, attracted all eyes as we rode through the streets. A friend accompanying us beyond the suburbs, and put us into a straight road, which led, without turning, to the end of the days journey. Instead of the ominous warnings we were accustom to in Central America, his parting words were, that there was no danger of robbers, or any other interruptions.
…I would remark that no map of Yucatan at all to be depended on has ever been published…
At a distance of a league we passed a fine cattle hacienda, and at twenty minutes past one reached Timucui, (on modern maps spelled Timucuy), a small village five leagues from Mérida. The village consisted of a few Indian huts, built around a large open square, and on one side was a shed for a casa real. It had no church or cura, and already we experienced a difficulty which we did not expect to encounter so soon. The population consisted entirely of Indians, who in general throughout the country speak nothing but Maya; there was not a white man in the place, nor anyone who could  speak in any tongue that we could comprehend. Fortunately, a muleteer from the interior, on his way to Mérida, had stopped to bait his mules under the shade of a large tree, and was swinging in a hammock in the casa real. He was surprised at our undertaking along a journey into the interior, seeing that we were brought to a stand at the first village from the capitol; but, finding us somewhat rational in other respects, he assisted us in procuring ramon leaves and water for our horses. His life had been passed in driving mules from a region of country called the Sierra, to the capitol; but he had heard strange stories about foreign countries, and, among others, that in El Norte a man could earn a dollar a day by his labor; but he was comforted when he learned that a real in his country was worth more to him than a dollar would be in ours; and as he interrupted to his nearly naked companions, crouching in the shade, nothing touched them so nearly as the idea of cold and frost, and spending a great portion of a day’s earnings for fuel to keep from freezing.
At three o’clock we left the hamlet, and at a little after four we saw the towers of the church of Tekoh. (On recent maps spelled Tecoh)

In the following captioned photos you will visit those haciendas and interesting seldom visited towns that we biked through following the route of Stephens and Catherwood.
Our first stop 5 kilometers south of the periferico is the silent little Tahdzibihén park.
Haciendas and ranchos along our way are quietly reminding us of this area’s history.
The straight old Mayan sacbe road beds are still functional and used to this day and as you can see there is a conspicuous lack of motor vehicles. The city noise is left behind.
This is biker’s paradise with almost no traffic and absolutely no stop lights.
These little road side chapels are a remnant of the days of the Caste War when the Maya broke away from Spanish domination and salvaged what was left of their ancient traditional religions and commingled it with Catholicism. For more about the Cult of the Santa Cruz, check our blog: http://bicycleyucatan.blogspot.com/2008/02/cob-to-valladolid.html
Speaking of spin-off commingled religions this house is adorned with just about every possibility to fend off evil spirits. With three types of Mayan crosses, the green, triple and stone they even have the Zionist star and for good measure the political party logo to boot! Check out the no frills 15 amp electrical service entrance next to the door.
This tranquil little town of Tekik de Regil seems to be waiting for something to happen but little of consequence will take place until eleven o’clock when this molino opens to crank out hot tortillas for the mid-day meal. Yucatecan dogs do not sleep in the sun.
From the heyday of the henequen era in 1908 when Yucatan was awash in money for the privileged few this decadent hacienda church was put up in this poverty stricken little town. The architect that was brought in for this job also did the main concert hall in downtown Mérida.
This is the business end of the hacienda where the machinery that processed the raw product of henequen into sisal rope needed in the WWI war effort rained in untold wealth.
We are out in the country here at the silent diminutive town of Timucuy about six kilometers from our original planned destination of Acanceh or Tecoh. We are very flexible on these out-of-town pleasure trips and only influenced by the wind direction and heat of the day. Well, the temperature was lovely but the wind was on the nose so we naturally did what was necessary and slowed down. The net result was that when our pre-determined turn around time came at ten AM this is where we were.
After leaving Mérida it is a welcome relief to come to a place that is so laid-back that the only noise comes from chirping birds. Being bicyclers we naturally enjoy places with no pushy-shovey traffic or smoky-noisy motorized vehicles. After Mérida these nearly vehicle free towns are almost shockingly quiet.
In front of the Timucuy church and across from the central town plaza Jane and I enjoy our morning iced coffee under the shade a kind old tree situated in the middle of the boulevard. This is just wonderful and well worth the effort.
When our coffee was finished the Mérida bus pulled into the plaza, we boarded and 30 minutes later we disembarked in downtown Mérida. We were home for lunch completing a 40 kilometer bike ride and a spirited bus trip back. (The TV in the bus didn’t work.)

COLONIA YUCATÁN AND EL CUYO BY BIKE AND BUS 2008

We have discovered the mysterious vanishing Mayan temples of El Cuyo.
Colonia Yucatán has nothing to entice the passer-by to even slow down for except a couple of speed bumps. This is the heart of the downtown business district with the municipal building on the left where the entire police force soaks up the tranquility in the nothing happens shade.
The ancient Maya had several temples here that were mostly salvaged for their stone but not much worthy of mention happened until the areas towering mahogany and zapote forests were noticed. The below British Admiralty chart dating from 1840 tells much of the story of this out of the way by-passed spot. At the time of the 1840 chart publication Yucatan had been under Spanish domination for nearly three-hundred years and the Spanish were in the process of arming the Mayan Indians to keep the Mexicans out under governor Barbachano who was a separatist formerly of the neighboring state of Campeche. Yucatan had also contracted with the Texas Navy to patrol their coast for a monthly fee of $8.000 to ensure their sovereignty.
The British admiralty chart reveals that the barrier peninsula had one hut and six Mayan ruins visible as aids to navigation, one of which was 100 feet high. The chart also shows the peninsula was forested with trees sixty feet tall and across on the mainland the trees were seventy feet tall. (The dashed line denotes John L. Stephens 1842 coastal trip of discovery that he so aptly described in his classic book; Incidents of Travel in Yucatan.)
The chart clearly shows our next destination of “Monte Cuyo Artificial Mound”. That artificial mound happens to be one of the former Mayan temples that eventually evolved into the base for El Cuyo’s light house. Further west along the coast you will notice numerous “Peaks” that were all Mayan ruins. Less than ten years after this chart was printed the Yucatan was plunged into their Caste War that lasted nearly sixty years. In this period of time clear-cut deforestation began in this area and lasted until the 1950s when the last mahogany tree was hacked down. Also notice that in the 1840s when this chart was printed there were no roads and the place known then as Rachel is approximately where present day Colonia Yucatan is located with its sawmills that finally fell silent when the trees were all gone. The timber barons are a very efficient lot.
Colonia Yucatán has no hotels or regular restaurants and their bus terminal is part of this open air variety store with the waiting room situated on the street front patio. We were the only tourists headed out of town this day.
The 38 kilometer road north to El Cuyo is the most picturesque and best suited for bicycling that we have found in northern Yucatan.
The bus trip from Mérida to Colonia Yucatan took five hours and we then had several options for going on to El Cuyo, bus, colectivo taxi or bicycle.
This is downtown El Cuyo with its limited attractions. Behind me is the little church and further back is the lighthouse prominently perched upon the remains of an ancient Mayan temple. The town has no stop lights and there are no tourists except for two weeks around Easter and then six weeks in July and August when it is packed.
The accommodations are numerous and range from two-star modest to zero-star stark, so take your pick. If you come off season which accounts for ten months of the year you can choose any room in town that suits your fancy.
The municipal building goes unguarded in this land of take-it-easy.
Just west of town is this little Puerto del Abrigo or protected fishermen’s harbor that seems to still be hauling in fish and it is just about the last place on the Yucatan peninsula where fish are plentiful, though the un-iced catch appeared to be less than wholesome. (The Mérida newspaper ran a story a few days after this photo was taken relating that there was a huge fish kill offshore from El Cuyo west to Progreso caused by a “red-tide”.)
The tally-man is tabulating the incoming catch that tends to be mostly on the small side and not especially fresh.
As we rode our bicycles around town we were approached by this jack-of-all trades who was in the process of painting the decorative wall behind him. He pitched us for a boat ride to visit the famous flamingos that inhabit the area lagoons and do an early morning fly-by along the beaches.
We were the only tourists in town so we were easy to single out and if we didn’t buy there was no market at all.
Here at 21.5 º N Latitude we were actually more than two degrees south of the sun
There are several significant things in the above photo; 1. I am the only tourist on the beach. 2. There is absolutely not a whisper of a pre-dawn breeze under the clear skies only painted a pasty-pink to the north by global pollution. 3. The remains of the city pier in the background haven’t been repaired since the last hurricane hit.
On the lagoon side of the island gossamer clouds are reflected in the glassy sunrise stillness.
Looking south from El Cuyo the substantial elevated causeway stretches off to one of the most beautiful stretches of roadway in northern Yucatan. Jane casts long shadows while the early morning sun creeps up over the Gulf of Mexico where it is actually north of our latitude this time of year.
Note; if you take another look at the British Admiralty chart dating from 1840 at the beginning of this story you will notice two significant things. One there was no causeway back in 1840 and secondly several Mayan temples were depicted as high mounds visible from the sea. The mysterious disappearance of those Mayan ruins could only be accounted for by this colossal causeway stretching off across this huge lagoon and the building materials to build the town of El Cuyo.
The sun is up and the world is beginning to stir here in this out of the loop bastion of tropical peace.
This is our seaside cabin. It is not the Ritz but here in El Cuyo Cabañas Mar y Sol are at least shaded shelter and a place to swing our hammocks directly in front of the beach. We were the only clients and somehow that made the trip worthwhile.
El Cuyo lighthouse is definitely an eye catching attractive allure that beckons you to explore. It is perched atop the remains of an ancient Mayan temple and the few town structures have been built from the materials of these pre-conquistador monuments that have mostly mysteriously vanished.
Capt. Russell Rene Garcia Sanchez is harbor master and holds the keys to the lighthouse.
As Capt. Russell handed me the keys his parting advice was to be extra careful on the stairs.









A spectacular view looking southwest over El Cuyo and across the lagoon gives a good perspective to the size of the sleepy little place and the huge expanse of the lagoon.
Looking southeast the lack of traffic and the vastness of open space diminish the perception of the human footprint in this undiscovered outpost.
The view east carries your eye off to the distant end of this sparsely populated peninsula that had been connected to the mainland according to the 1840 British Admiralty chart. Today there isn’t a trace of those Mayan temples that were so numerous. Also those 60 foot trees depicted on the 1840 chart have been long ago been cut and exported.
Northwest El Cuyo makes a small impression on the landscape all the way to the fish boat harbor whose jetty can be slightly seen in the upper left side of this photo.
Looking due west if you strain your eyes you might see the thin dark line at the end of this island that happens to be the remains of a Mayan ruin four-hundred feet long…all the rest have disappeared.
Due south of El Cuyo the view of the road crossing the causeway and leading off to Colonia Yucatan 38 kilometers distant doesn’t begin to reveal the horrendous change to the topography that has taken place in the past one hundred and fifty years. When the British surveyed this coast for their 1840 navigational chart they showed this island covered with trees sixty feet tall and across the lagoon trees seventy feet tall. Countless hurricanes have seriously altered the coastal profile but nothing can compare to the destructive damage of the clear-cut deforestation that didn’t leave a tree for a bird to sit in and has now after more than a half century since produced only a low scrub forest.
The big news in the local newspaper today was that at Colonia Yucatan 2,000 hectares of “jatropha curcass” trees were to be planted in order to produce bio-fuel, no doubt to fuel all of those four wheel gulf carts at the beach.
This is not the worst of the stairs leading up to the top of the lighthouse and Capt. Russell grossly understated his warning to be careful on the stairs. It was a frightening experience when I was half way up to discover that the stair treads that were intact were rotten to the core and I was committed to complete my trip to the top just to turn around…enough!
Quiet little El Cuyo will be a terrorized when these and scores more are revved up and raising sand filled with drunken holiday thrill seekers out to impress who knows who.
The holiday thrill seekers that throng to this El Cuyo hotel to enjoy the beach scene more than likely won’t notice that the view out of their apartments is of the parking lot.
This is the Yucatan that tourists miss most.
It could be missed intentionally.
It is refreshing today to find a tropical beach still nearly deserted with no traffic lights or pushy traffic to contend with and we truly appreciated the slow pace with the easy going atmosphere at El Cuyo.
Like my favorite German author Herman Hesse likes to say; “not for everybody”.

SANTA ELENA, KABAH, UXMAL, CITINCABCHEN AND HUNABCEN

SANTA ELENA, KABAH, UXMAL, TICUL, CITINCABCHEN AND HUNABCHEN, YUCATAN BY BIKE AND BUS FEBRUARY 2008 by John M. Grimsrud
For a printable and larger view of this post, click here.
My wife Jane and I began this three day excursion busing with our folding bicycles to the seldom visited out of the tourist loop town of Santa Elena formerly known as Nohcacab.
A fascinating chain of events took place in the early 1840s when the famous world traveling explorer and author John L. Stephens and his graphic artist associate Mr. Catherwood struck off into unexplored regions of tropical Yucatan landing at Santa Elena.
Following closely in the footsteps of Stephens and Catherwood, Jane and I set out to bicycle and photograph a portion of that historic 1840s adventure.
The following story is told with captioned photos plus excerpts from John L. Stephens classic book of exploration Incidents of Travel in Yucatan.
We begin this chronicle in Santa Elena where we disembark our bus from Mérida looking at a side of Yucatan seldom seen by visitors.
This is the Nohcacab, (Santa Elena) church as sketched by Mr. Catherwood in 1840 from page 260 of Incidents of Travel in Yucatan.
Nohcacab now known as Santa Elena has kept this small corner of town virtually unchanged over all these years as you can see by the above photo we took in February 2008.
Stephens and Catherwood resided in this building, on the east side of the church during their 1840 visit. Attached to the church was their Nohcacab apartment which is now a museum. Here is an excerpt from their book;

“Death was all around us. Anciently this country was so healthy that Torquemada says, “Men die of pure old age, for there are none of those infirmities that exist in other lands; and if there are slight infirmities, the heat destroys them, and so there is no need of a physician there; “but the times are much better for physicians now, and Dr. Cabot, if he had been able to attend to it, might have entered into an extensive gratuitous practice. Adjoining the front of the church, and connecting with the convent, was a great charnel-house, along the wall of which was a row of skulls. At the top of a pillar forming the abutment of the wall of the staircase was a large vase piled full, and the cross was surmounted with them. Within the enclosure was a promiscuous assemblage of skulls and bones several feet deep. Along the wall, hanging by cords, were the bones and skulls of individuals in boxes and baskets, or tied up in cloths, with names written upon them, and, as at Ticul, there were the fragments of dresses, while some of the skulls had still adhering to them the long black hair of women.
The floor of the church was interspersed with long patches of cement, which were graves, and near one of the altars was a box with a glass case, within which were the bones of a women, the wife of a lively old gentlemen whom we were in the habit of seeing every day. They were clean and bright and polished, with the skull and cross-bones in front, the legs and arms laid on the bottom, and the ribs disposed regularly in order, one above the other, as in life, having been so arranged by the husband himself; a strange attention, as it seemed, to a deceased wife…”

When Jane and I arrived in February 2008 the skulls were all gone from outside the premises but the museum situated within Stephens’s old apartment featured the mummified remains of cadavers excavated from beneath the floor church.
On a brighter side of the old Nohcacab, (Santa Elena) church is this view of the city central plaza and the municipal buildings adorned for the carnival festival.
Just a half block removed from the central plaza is this humble abode little changed by time and perhaps very similar to the scenes that greeted Stephens and Catherwood upon their 1840 visit.
South of the city center only a kilometer and a half removed in a dense jungle setting was our lovely home base in Nohcacab, (Santa Elena) at the Sacbe Bungalows These rustic immaculately clean cabins commingle with nature and are cooled by the shade of a tropical forest and assisted by ceiling fans. Chirping native birds and fragrant flowering plants make this our kind of place…a jewel to us. Our extremely knowledgeable ecology friendly bicycle group leading friends Basil and Alixa put us on to this rare gem. For the adventure of a lifetime visiting the best that Yucatan has to offer see their web-site; www.bikemexico.com
With eighteen years of dedicated efforts building Sacbe Bungalows into a unique one-of-a-kind jungle escape here in the Ruta Puuc region of Yucatan, the owners Annette and Edgar maintain a high standard. Back in the years when Annette and Edger first settled here obtaining water and electric service was nearly impossible and took a determined persistence. Their deep water well had to be carved through solid rock and undoubtedly cost more than the land. For information and reservations: http://sacbebungalows.com.mx
After depositing our traveling equipment in our cabin at Sacbe Bungalows Jane and I bicycled south seven kilometers through gently rolling hills along the quiet and seldom traveled road. This is part of the Ruta Puuc leading to the Mayan ruins at the archeological site of Kabah and several others.
The above drawing done in 1840 by Mr. Catherwood depicts one of the ceremonial buildings at Kabah after several days of labor had been expended clearing the rank jungle vegetation.
In the background amongst country club style manicured premises you can see the cleared and restored ceremonial buildings at Kabah depicted in Mr. Catherwood’s above drawing along with countless other structures and rubble at various stages of restoration. The drawings of Mr. Catherwood have been of an enormous assistance to archeologists piecing together what nature has brought down in centuries of abandonment.
Ornate adornment of the façade from Kabah is depicted in this portion of a Catherwood drawing used in modern restoration work.
A monumental amount of meticulous effort went into bringing these ruined temples to this present state of order. Consider that Catherwood’s drawings were done 167 years before this photo and in that interim the jungle trees coupled with countless hurricane rains worked destructively doing dedicated damage.
Back in the jungle along a tropical forest path behind the main ruins Jane and I came upon this interesting stand-alone building. One of the points of interest was the six meter deep unguarded hole alongside our path. Upon inspection we recognized it as one of the cisterns constructed by the ancient Mayan people to collect rain water in this area with no rivers, lakes or springs While rereading Incidents of Travel in Yucatan I came across this entry colorfully describing this nearly inconspicuous hole.

“My first visit to this place was marked by a brilliant exploit on the part of my horse. On dismounting, Mr. Catherwood found shade for his horse, doctor Cabot got his into one of the buildings, and I tied mine to this tree, giving him fifteen or twenty feet of halter as a range for pasture. Here we left them, but on our return in the evening my horse was missing, and, as we supposed, stolen; but before we reached the tree I saw the halter still attached to it, and I knew that an Indian would be much more likely to steal the halter and leave the horse than vice versa. The halter was drawn down into the mouth of a cave, and looking over the edge, I saw the horse hanging at the other end, with just rope enough, by stretching his head and neck, to keep a foothold at one side of the cave. One of his sides was scratched and grimed with dirt, and it seemed as if every bone in his body must be broken, but on getting him out we found that, except some scarifications of the skin, he was not at all hurt; in fact, he was quite the reverse, and never moved better than on our return to the village.”

Jane and I positively lucked out upon our arrival at Kabah being the only visitors but soon the tour buses started to roll in and the ruins began to take on the atmosphere of a Disneyland theme park. This is the famous Ruta Puuc with half a dozen ancient Mayan archeological sites all grouped within fifty kilometers. Tour groups with busloads full of camera clicking sight-seeing travelers often cram all of these curiosities into one day. The net result is ruin burn-out caused by cerebral overload often leading to blurred dysfunctional recall. Too much too fast and often too many people tends to give a total disconnect to the inspiring spiritual ambiance emitted by the Mayan ghosts haunting their sacred ceremonial temples.
Undisturbed silent tranquility can be attained by the early morning and late afternoon visitors and is well worth the effort.
This Kabah resident’s ancestors have witnessed the arrival of the Maya, conquistadors and now throngs of international jet-setters and for him and his offspring to come not much will change.
Back at Bungalows Sacbe biker Mike is one of the regulars and has made the place his home base for his many Yucatan bicycle transits. Mike has not owned an auto in 30 years.
A new arrival in Santa Elena at the health department is our friend Dr. Carlos Cabrera May in this photo with his assistant and nurse Berny. In this bicycle friendly town Jane, I and Dr. Carlos cycled out to dinner at Valerie Pickles new restaurant the Pickled Onion almost across from our Bungalows Sacbe. A downpour of rain came while we dined but relented to let us get home dry…so ended day one of our Yucatan outback bicycle adventure.
Day two; we are off to an early start with savory scrumptious chicken tacos at a taco stand on the central plaza before striking off to the Mayan ruins, Uxmal.
Clean, neat and quiet, Santa Elena also has a conspicuous lack of motor vehicles making parking easy. The little taco stand is named; El Pollo Vaquero or “The Cowboy Chicken”.
This is the famous ruins of Uxmal and the temple named The House of The Dwarf as drawn by Mr. Catherwood in 1840, three-hundred years after the conquest of Yucatan by the Spanish.
"The House of The Dwarf” photographed in 2008, one hundred and sixty-eight years after Stephens and Catherwood’s visit. Jane and I were early arrivals but we were beaten by a busload of energetic Germans. An interesting phenomenon is the fact that if you clap your hands together in the place where Jane is standing the echo loudly comes back off the ruins sounding like the crack of a rifle.
The House of The Dwarf in 2008; these temples represented an astronomical amount of humans to build especially considering that no modern mechanical equipment was used. The restoration work alone presented a monumental amount of intense dedicated effort.
Mr. Catherwood titled this; “VIEW FROM LA CASA DE LAS MONJAS, UXMAL, LOOKING SOUTH” and you can see in my 2008 photo below the vast improvements recently brought about by present day archeological restorations and renovations. (Note the many additional structures in the background that will give some idea of the enormity of the Uxmal complex.)
A manicured lawn and bank of modern-day lighting equipment concealed beneath the metal panels used in a spectacular nightly light and sound show are but a few of the upgrades featured at present day Uxmal. A curious thing of interest is the intricate and elaborate bas-relief carvings adorning the façade above each door in the above building. Each carving depicts a slightly different Mayan traditional palapa home exactly the same style as those still found throughout Yucatan today and obviously in use for countless millenniums.
You now have a very small sampling of the many Mayan ruins that make up Uxmal. It would be exhaustive to present it all here, so I will just encourage you to come and take a look for yourself and before you do I strongly recommend reading the fascinating book; Incidents of Travel in Yucatan by John L. Stephens.
Returning from Uxmal to Santa Elena, (Nohcacab) on our bicycles this interesting sight came into view; ahead is the distant church of Santa Elena perched above the central plaza and Stephens described this very same place in his book.
Here is an excerpt from Incidents of Travel in Yucatan;

That I might take a passing view of one of these places on my return to Uxmal, I determined to go back by a different road, across the sierra, which rises a short distance from the village of Ticul. The accent is steep, broken, and stony. The whole range was a mass of limestone rock, with a few stunted trees, but not enough to afford shade, and under the reflection of the sun. In an hour I reached the top of the sierra. Looking back, my last view of the plane presented, high above everything else, the church and convent which I had left. I was an hour crossing the sierra, and on the other side my first view of the great plain took in the church of Nohcacab, (Santa Elena) standing like a colossus in the wilderness, the only token to indicate the presence of man. Descending the plain, I saw nothing but trees, until, when close upon the village, the great church again rose before me, towering above the houses, and the only object visible.

We found Stephen’s description of this place amazingly accurate and the only noticeable change since 1840 when it was written was the fact that now there is a new paved and smooth road from Uxmal to Santa Elena. Even using our brakes prodigiously we soon attained 40 kilometers of speed on our decent.

We ended our day two dining on typical Yucatecan cuisine at the Chac-Mool restaurant with this group of dedicated long-haul cross-country bicyclers who were next on their way across Mexico and up the mountains to the San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas 8,000 feet above sea level.
This is the group from bikemexico.com finishing their breakfast the next morning at the open air jungle dining area at Bungalows Sacbe.
Beginning day three and our 65 kilometer bike ride north toward Mérida and home.
Biking down out of the Puuc hills, through Ticul and north through the citrus country to Sacalum where we turn east and the road become perceptively smaller.
Neglected and nearly forgotten by the world this is the main street of Citincabchén.
Citincabchén has one claim to fame and it is the product of this quaint little off the road tortilla shop that turned out the best tortillas of our trip and perhaps as good as we have ever had…worth the trip just to sample.
This outpost of civilization is money poor but rich in clean fresh air and tranquility.
Down the road we continue to slip into a seldom visited realm of un-motorized quiet.
This is the Hunabchen railway station that we had passed a number of times in the past riding the old narrow gauge train from Mérida to Peto. That train went out of service back in the mid-1980s and now nature is reclaiming the right-of-way.
Hunabchen doesn’t even rate a mention on our map and the road gets smaller.
This six kilometer stretch of road took us an hour and a half to transit: we did walk.
I said it can’t get any worse and it did! Jane called it “camino feo” or ugly road in English. We did meet other travelers on this stretch and they had this to say; “No es lejos” and “falta poco” or “it is not far” and “just a little further”.
On our 65 kilometer trip back to Mérida this little six kilometer stretch took more out of us than the rest combined. Our bike riding ended in X'canchakan where we boarded a bus for Mérida. At 3PM we were in our favorite coffee shop in Mérida, Caffé Latté enjoying a cold frappe and letting the shadows get a little longer before we sauntered home.
Looking back at this three day outing it seems like we packed three months worth of activities into just three days adventure.